5 days with my M9 - WOW! [but...]

[Scola77]

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Waiting for such precious cargo to arrive via the fedex man was gut wrenching. I have been waiting to get a Leica for years and I finally would be able to dump my big DLSR (for most jobs at least). So it arrived safe and sound and I immediately began shooting. Coming from a Nikon I immediately noticed the simplicity of a rangefinder - how all the most important dials and controls are easily available. Focusing was a bit of a challenge in the beginning, but as I took more and more shots I began presetting the distance using a rough estimate of feet prior to looking through the viewfinder. This shaved valuable seconds off of getting the right shot and has forced me to look at my surroundings in terms of distance.

 

A FEW CHALLENGES:

 

Viewfinder:

 

Having a DLSR for so long I have grown accustomed to using the viewfinder as an indispensable tool in field photography. Needless to say the M9's preview screen is less than desirable. It often does not represent the final product and shows much more noise in high ISO shots than there really is. I now use it mainly as a tool to see if the pic is blown out or too dark. Kind of a bummer - hopefully this will be addressed in the 9.2 or 10.

 

USB transfer to Apple Aperture:

 

Shooting compressed DNG makes large files - I am cool with that. But transfer to Apple Aperture via the USB cable is painful - especially when you have 300 + pics. On occasion, Aperture only sees a fraction of the files and stops. I tried a few USB readers and they either did not work or gave similar results. More than likely an Aperture issue, but if anyone uses a faster method (firewire anyone?) or a faster USB reader that works with macs I am open to suggestions.

 

Metering:

 

I was kind of disappointed with metering. This may be user error, but my highlights are super bright. This is shooting f/10 in aperture priority, auto ISO. Just not getting the same results I was getting on my D3 setup similarly.

 

White Balance:

 

I know, well documented here. I literally had to adjust WB on all 300 shots. Easy with Aperture, but still...

 

KUDOS:

 

Sharpness (50mm 1.4 pre-asph):

 

HOLY SMOKES! Perfection. No noticeable drop off at the edges.

 

Bokeh (50mm 1.4 pre-asph):

 

Breathtaking.

 

Menu system, overall quality of product:

 

The best camera that I have ever owned.

 

 

Once everything is color corrected and exposure/brightness/highlights are properly balanced in post processing, I can honestly say this camera has enabled me to take better pictures. Not because the hardware is all that much better than anything else (ok, kinda is) but it has enabled me to have more creative control over my pictures. It certainly is not for everyone, but the last 5 days has been, well, a blast. Even boring, monotonous shots have been both challenging and exciting.

 

[leicashot]

Congratulations. The transition to rangefinder from SLR is not an easy one, and I would guess that you will come by more challenges as you start shooting. Hopefully you'll find ways to overcome them and be able to enjoy a long relationship with the camera system.

 

In regards to noise, I do believe the M9 is very accurate at showing noise in the image. Maybe your post processing setup has auto noise reduction, but I find that if the LCD shows noise, then there is noise there, it ain't lying.

 

As much as the LCD is not a 900,000 pixel one, it is good enough, especially considering I used to shoot M6/M4 and MP prior to. it's remarkable for Leica to be able to produce such a camera in digital format and feel privileged to be able to own/shoot with it as I did previously with film.

 

Good luck with it. My advice is do not expect it to replace what an SLR can do in the 'way' it does it. The Leica M is a simple light box that makes you work fo your images, and the rewards are much more satisfying than those taken on an SLR. Some people reep and some don't.

 

All the best

[Ed_K]

With regards to the uploading of pix, could you share with us the card and card reader you were using? There has been experience by others that shows incompatibility between the card and readers, thus affecting the uploading procedure. I use a MacBook Pro and after last weekend shooting, uploaded 100+ photos via the built-in card reader directly into Aperture. No hiccup, may be because the volume is small enough to be easily handle, not exactly sure why. Btw i were using SanDisk Ultra at the time of shooting.

[Scola77]

With regards to the uploading of pix, could you share with us the card and card reader you were using? There has been experience by others that shows incompatibility between the card and readers, thus affecting the uploading procedure. I use a MacBook Pro and after last weekend shooting, uploaded 100+ photos via the built-in card reader directly into Aperture. No hiccup, may be because the volume is small enough to be handle, not exactly sure why. Btw i were using the SanDisk Ultra at the time of shooting.

 

Right now I am plugging directly into the camera. I use a Sandisk extreme III 16GB. I also tried a "Zio" multi card reader - didn't recognize.

[Ed_K]

Sandisk has a reader designed for their Extreme III cards (i use it from time to time when shooting with Extreme CF cards in the past), do you think you might be able to borrow this usb2 reader to give it a try? Not sure about other readers as this is the only external reader i have, may be others can share their experience with different readers as well.

[leicashot]

You really should use a card reader anyway. Much more reliable and faster, and doesn' drain your camera of battery power.

[ianman]

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Shooting compressed DNG makes large files - I am cool with that. But transfer to Apple Aperture via the USB cable is painful - especially when you have 300 + pics. On occasion, Aperture only sees a fraction of the files and stops. I tried a few USB readers and they either did not work or gave similar results. More than likely an Aperture issue, but if anyone uses a faster method (firewire anyone?) or a faster USB reader that works with macs I am open to suggestions.

 

Hello,

 

I've not had any issues importing into Aperture, but I do follow the excellent advice to always use a card reader. I don't remember the brand of my reader but it's a 7.99 euro el cheapo thing. I've not heard of a specific issue importing with Aperture. Remember if you are used to using Firewire, USB is *a lot* slower.

[Baptiste]

Hello,

 

I've not had any issues importing into Aperture, but I do follow the excellent advice to always use a card reader. I don't remember the brand of my reader but it's a 7.99 euro el cheapo thing. I've not heard of a specific issue importing with Aperture. Remember if you are used to using Firewire, USB is *a lot* slower.

 

Or buy a MacBook Pro

Ok, slightly more expensive for a card reader

[leicashot]

Or buy a MacBook Pro

Ok, slightly more expensive for a card reader

 

Actually some cards don't work in the Macbook Pro's SD slot reader, so a good external reader is a must.

[shootinglulu]

I got a Lexar professional card reader recently and it's whizzy!

[01af]

I tried a few USB readers and they either did not work ...

Even cheap card readers are better than connecting the camera directly. Just make sure the reader supports SDHC cards—older ones don't.

 

 

I was kind of disappointed with metering. This may be user error, but my highlights are super bright.

Same here. For low-contrast subjects, the metering is fine ... but for high-contrast subjects, I usually will get better results when dialling in an exposure bias value of -0.3 EV or even -0.7 EV, to protect the highlights from burning out. In many cases it's yet easier to switch from aperture priority to manual exposure control.

 

 

I literally had to adjust WB on all 300 shots. Easy with Aperture, but still ...

I never use automatic white-balance, on any digital camera. It's always the Daylight preset for me. Makes dealing with white-balance in post-processing much easier.

[Nicoleica]

I got a Lexar professional card reader recently and it's whizzy!

 

I have a pair of these readers. They are the best USB card readers I have encountered.

 

To the OP. Do make sure that you buy a good modern card reader. Older readers, and some of the 'cheaper' card readers on the market can be rather slow, and some don't support SDHC.

[leicashot]

I use a D3/D3s daily for my main job so I know where you're coming from. I use it in full manual, just as I do with my Leica M's. In terms of metering, you can be disappointed in the metering but at the end of the day, it IS the photographer's job to understand the meter, not the camera's. Leica's metering system is very primitive and simple, like a large spot meter, designed to be used in manual mode by people who understand exposure, unlike Nikon and Canon cameras that have 3 million zone metering - that still don't compare to an incident light meter and a good photographer's brain (anyone seen James Nachtwey's film 'War Photographer?'. He uses a handheld meter to measure the ambient lighting and his results speak for themselves. I couldn't imagine him blaming the camera for a bad exposure, because he never uses the built in meter.

 

Exposure is not a complicated formula of math, like Canon and Nikon would want you to believe. It's a simple balance of exposure of aperture and shutter speed for a particular scene. No camera will ever be able to meter correctly because it can't meter the light falling on your scene/subject. It can only measure reflected light, which is always tricked by backlight, colored clothing, backgrounds etc etc....and guessing how much the camera will screw up and dialing in exposure compensation is just silly. Leica put these functions into the M7 onwards due to market demand and pressure, not because they will provide better results - it's up to the photographer to learn the fundamentals of photography and control the results instead of relying on a computer to do it for them.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Camera's don't meter poorly, the operator's do. The M is a thinking photographer's camera, and all the shortcuts you're used to will not help you here. Now you're on your own, with aperture priority if you really need/want it. It's just you and a simple camera designed to perform as a result of your inputs, and not the other way around. I wish you all the luck with it. Most people here do not agree with my attitude towards manual photography, but I thought I'd share it with you just in case you're interested. My methods and advice are no direction towards an easy road but with hard work and determination the results will eventually show. The M camera will return the results according to how much 'you' put in, and not how much you expect back.

 

I wish you luck.

[jaapv]

Well said!

[diogenis]

Waiting for such precious cargo to arrive via the fedex man was gut wrenching. I have been waiting to get a Leica for years and I finally would be able to dump my big DLSR (for most jobs at least). So it arrived safe and sound and I immediately began shooting. Coming from a Nikon I immediately noticed the simplicity of a rangefinder - how all the most important dials and controls are easily available. Focusing was a bit of a challenge in the beginning, but as I took more and more shots I began presetting the distance using a rough estimate of feet prior to looking through the viewfinder. This shaved valuable seconds off of getting the right shot and has forced me to look at my surroundings in terms of distance.

 

A FEW CHALLENGES:

 

Viewfinder:

 

Having a DLSR for so long I have grown accustomed to using the viewfinder as an indispensable tool in field photography. Needless to say the M9's preview screen is less than desirable. It often does not represent the final product and shows much more noise in high ISO shots than there really is. I now use it mainly as a tool to see if the pic is blown out or too dark. Kind of a bummer - hopefully this will be addressed in the 9.2 or 10.

 

Let me add a couple of hints, that you may like:

1. Always begin with your focusing kob in the ∞ setting. This way, you will always know that there is only one way to turn the knob (clockwise in relation to you), and return there once you snap the picture.

 

2. The LCD screen is only usable for its histogram and overblown areas. But for the red overblown areas to show, you need to enable them with its specific setting.

 

Enjoy you camera and welcome to the forum

[jaapv]

Let me add to that - the red area is the blown-out highlights for the JPG. As such the indication is conservative. Quite often you will be able to recover more in RAW conversion.

[ianman]

Or buy a MacBook Pro

 

As it happens, that is exactly what I have.

 

Ok, slightly more expensive for a card reader

 

Price has got nothing to do with it. I got this one for well under 10 euros and it works perfectly... and it's very small.

[Scola77]

A FEW CHALLENGES:

 

Viewfinder:

 

Having a DLSR for so long I have grown accustomed to using the viewfinder as an indispensable tool in field photography. Needless to say the M9's preview screen is less than desirable. It often does not represent the final product and shows much more noise in high ISO shots than there really is. I now use it mainly as a tool to see if the pic is blown out or too dark. Kind of a bummer - hopefully this will be addressed in the 9.2 or 10.

 

 

oops, meant Preview Screen, not Viewfinder!

[Scola77]

I use a D3/D3s daily for my main job so I know where you're coming from. I use it in full manual, just as I do with my Leica M's. In terms of metering, you can be disappointed in the metering but at the end of the day, it IS the photographer's job to understand the meter, not the camera's. Leica's metering system is very primitive and simple, like a large spot meter, designed to be used in manual mode by people who understand exposure, unlike Nikon and Canon cameras that have 3 million zone metering - that still don't compare to an incident light meter and a good photographer's brain (anyone seen James Nachtwey's film 'War Photographer?'. He uses a handheld meter to measure the ambient lighting and his results speak for themselves. I couldn't imagine him blaming the camera for a bad exposure, because he never uses the built in meter.

 

Exposure is not a complicated formula of math, like Canon and Nikon would want you to believe. It's a simple balance of exposure of aperture and shutter speed for a particular scene. No camera will ever be able to meter correctly because it can't meter the light falling on your scene/subject. It can only measure reflected light, which is always tricked by backlight, colored clothing, backgrounds etc etc....and guessing how much the camera will screw up and dialing in exposure compensation is just silly. Leica put these functions into the M7 onwards due to market demand and pressure, not because they will provide better results - it's up to the photographer to learn the fundamentals of photography and control the results instead of relying on a computer to do it for them.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Camera's don't meter poorly, the operator's do. The M is a thinking photographer's camera, and all the shortcuts you're used to will not help you here. Now you're on your own, with aperture priority if you really need/want it. It's just you and a simple camera designed to perform as a result of your inputs, and not the other way around. I wish you all the luck with it. Most people here do not agree with my attitude towards manual photography, but I thought I'd share it with you just in case you're interested. My methods and advice are no direction towards an easy road but with hard work and determination the results will eventually show. The M camera will return the results according to how much 'you' put in, and not how much you expect back.

 

I wish you luck.

 

Good stuff! I decided to ease into the M9 by allowing it to pick the shutter speed and ISO and concentrated my efforts on getting better at focussing. I understand what you are saying and I am gradually getting there. I am eager to master this great little camera. Like you I shot my D3 & D700 in all manual (except focussing) and got great results.Once I master the little nuances I will gradually take control over shutter speed and ISO.

 

That said, it would be nice to have a better metering system. There are occasions to lean a little on technology, if for nothing else but to get a second opinion. This is especially important for those split second moments when you do not have time to dial in aperture, ISO, and SS - focus and.... oops, missed the shot. Sometimes leaning on the camera for SS and making small adjustments in post processing is necessary. Having a better metering system would make PP much easier.

 

Having a BLAST!

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Scola77]

Let me add to that - the red area is the blown-out highlights for the JPG. As such the indication is conservative. Quite often you will be able to recover more in RAW conversion.

 

Yep, all my outdoor shots were pretty much blown out. Thanks to RAW I was able to dial down the exposure and fix the highlights in post processing with no image degradation.